State employees: memoranda of understanding.

Existing law provides that a provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees that requires the expenditure of funds does not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. This bill would approve provisions of memoranda of understanding entered into between the state employer and State Bargaining Unit 2, the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges, and Hearing Officers in State Employment, on August 14, 2014, State Bargaining Unit 10, the California Association of Professional Scientists, on August 12, 2014, and State Bargaining Unit 13, the International Union of Operating Engineers, Stationary Engineers, on August 21, 2014, that require the expenditure of funds, and would provide that these provisions will become effective even if these provisions are approved by the Legislature in legislation other than the annual Budget Act. The bill would prohibit provisions of the memorandum of understanding approved by this bill that authorize the expenditure of funds from taking effect unless funds for those provisions are specifically appropriated by the Legislature, and would authorize the state employer and the affected employee organization to reopen negotiations on all or part of the memorandum of understanding if those provisions are not approved or fully funded by the Legislature. The bill would appropriate funds for expenditure in the 2014–15 fiscal year in augmentation of, and for the purpose of, state employee compensation, as provided in the Budget Act of 2014, in accordance with a specified schedule, from the General Fund, unallocated special funds, and other unallocated nongovernmental cost funds. The bill would also appropriate to the Controller from the General Fund, unallocated special funds, including, but not limited to, federal funds and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, and any other fund from which state employees are compensated, in the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and employee benefits to state employees for work performed between July 1 and the enactment of the Budget Act in the 2015–16 and 2016–17 fiscal years if the Budget Act is not enacted on or before July 1 in those fiscal years. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to provide to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee any side letter, appendix, or other addendum to a properly ratified memorandum of understanding that requires the expenditure of $250,000 or more related to salary and benefits and that is not already contained in the original memorandum of understanding or the Budget Act. Existing law requires the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, within 30 days after receiving the side letter, appendix, or other addendum, to determine if the addendum presents substantial additions that are not reasonably within the parameters of the original memorandum of understanding and thereby requires legislative action to ratify the addendum. This bill would approve the addenda to memoranda of understanding entered into by the state employer and State Bargaining Unit 8, the California Department of Forestry Firefighters on August 26, 2014. The bill would also appropriate $10,236,000 from the General Fund and other unallocated special and nongovernmental cost funds for those purposes. The bill would prohibit provisions of the addenda to the memorandum of understanding approved by this bill that authorize the expenditure of funds from taking effect unless funds for those provisions already exist within other available appropriations or are specifically appropriated by the Legislature, and would require the state employer and the affected employee organization to meet and confer to renegotiate the affected provisions if funds for these purposes are not specifically appropriated by the Legislature. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.